For many, spring represents renewal, and a promising sense of continuity. With that in mind, I am very happy to announce the continuation of our treasured partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Israeli Council of Higher Education (CHE) has included support for the joint funding programs between Israel and the NSF in its five-year funding program. This means that the BSF will continue providing grants to Israeli scientists and researchers partnering with contemporaries in the United States on projects that have the potential to change our world.

In this issue, you will meet scientists who originally received funding from BSF, and then went on to receive grants from the NSF-BSF partnerships. While they represent different fields, they have one thing in common: they have already made important discoveries that encourage them to continue the paths they have taken.

While this is certainly worth celebrating, we all know that these are uncertain times for the scientific community. Even with support from the CHE, there was not enough funding at this time to support all our NSF-BSF programs. As a result, the NSF-BSF program in social sciences have been suspended, and annual grants to Israelis in the NSF-BSF programs were all reduced by $10,000/year.

We are also continuing with our regular research grants program which, for the past 42 years, funded both Americans and Israelis working together. In this program, the application evaluation is made by the BSF, unlike the NSF-BSF programs, in which the evaluation is made by the NSF. As we always have, we will use our available resources in the regular program to help support only the most promising scientific collaborations. As you will also read in this issue, our selection process is enhanced by top-notch panelists from all over the world. They help us ensure that our grants are awarded wisely.

We take great pride in knowing that, especially in Israel, a BSF grant is one of the most prestigious grants a scientist can receive. We look forward to helping our most promising scientists, and to learning about all the discoveries that lie ahead.